38% of Scots get more distracted working at home than in the workplace

Published:16:23Monday 13 November 2017

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Household chores and chatting to friends are the biggest distractions

62% of Scots spend the work-at-home day in their pyjamas

With big corporations such as HSBC and Virgin actively encouraging their employees to work from home, a new survey has found that 38% of Scots spend their remote working hours doing personal tasks.

And when they are doing the job in hand, 62% do so in their pyjamas.

A recent study finds that the number of people working from home has increased by a fifth in 10 years and home insurer, Together Mutual Insurance have conducted some new research to find out why people are working from home, in addition to how companies are having to change to accommodate this trend.

The main reason employees dodge the workplace and opt to work from home is to avoid their commute - and with rail fares facing the biggest rise for five years, this is no surprise.

Additionally, over a third opt to work from home to avoid the distraction of their colleagues, allowing them to concentrate on their work.

Meanwhile, nearly a quarter (24%) decide to stay home so that they can take a break whenever they feel like it, with nearly one in 10 taking advantage of a long lunch.

Of the 38% which get distracted when working from home, the causes of procrastination are:

Chatting to friends and family at home - 59%

Doing household chores - 58%

Running personal errands - 49%

The survey also reveals that 23% of Scots would work from home more if it were not for their company putting a limit on the number of days allowed, suggesting that businesses are limiting their employees’ productivity and flexibility.

Jon Craven, CEO of Together Mutual Insurance said: “With the average person working from home 13 days a year, companies are having to accommodate for this with equipment and remote-working friendly IT systems.

“Our findings highlighted that the average person needs £2097 worth of technology in order to work remotely and with 38% of people claiming to get distracted during work hours, it begs the question as to how beneficial remote working is for businesses.”